the Hearts of his People so that when a Prince and his Ministers are become Odious the Government can never be said to be strong A clear Example of which we see in James the II. But if that be not a proof sufficient because England is altogether Protestant let us call to mind the lustre of the House of Guise which the League reduc'd so low the downfal of the House of Austria after the Union between the Vnited Provinces and Gustaphus Adolphus Let us compare the Reigns of Mary and Elizabeth of Charles V. and Philip II. of Charles the IX and Hen. III. of Hen. IV. and Lewis the XIII Therefore the shortest and surest means to stifle the Spirit of Persecution is to procure the REUNION OF THE PROTESTANTS who living in the same Communion would make a Body so considerably Puissant that the Roman Catholics would not so much as think of disturbing them Thus we have set forth the Original of our Divisions the causes that have fomented them and the hopes that we have of an approaching Union We are not to shew that this reconciliation is not so difficult as People believe All our Controversies roul upon the same form of Ecclesiastical Government upon the manner of Christ's being present in the Eucharist and upon the Idea of Predestination As to the Ecclesiastical Government I do not believe that any Protestant will deny me the following propositions that seem to be unquestionable and of which there are some that are the foundation of our Reformation 1. That a Church is a Body or Society of several Persons that agree together upon certain Points of Doctrine and upon a certain form of public Worship 2. That every Church in the Quality of a Body makes up a Part of the Civil Society and every one of its Members is a Member also of the State and consequently that in that respect they are under the Soveraign Jurisdiction 3. That it is in the Power of the Magistrate to regulate the exterior Government of growing Societies or of such as are not yet Establish'd by public Authority and so grant them Laws and Priviledges 4. That he cannot change the Government of those which he finds already form'd nor deprive them of their Rights and Priviledges unless perhaps in some extraordinary Cases 5. That the Soveraign is Born Head of the Church he is a Member 6. That there is no precise Form of Ecclesiastical Discourse or Exterior Government prescrib'd in History or in the New Testament Indeed we find there general Precepts to avoid Tyranny Anarchy and Superstition to do all things with Decency and in Order and to turn all things to Piety and the Edification of the Faithful 7. That tho Episcopacy be the most Ancient of all Ecclesiastical Governments because the Roman Empire where the Gospel was first divulg'd was a Monarchy Nevertheless the Form of Government is a thing indifferent of it's self and the best Discipline is that which best agrees with the Nature of the Gospel with the natural Dispositions and Customs of the People and the Constitution of the Government 8. After the Roman Empire came to be dismember'd the several Soveraigns that shar'd it between them have as much right to regulate within their own Dominions the Discipline of the Church as the Christian Emperors had So that the Order of Presbytery cannot be Condemn'd in a Republic where the Magistrate has made choice of it as the most conformable to the Government of the Country 9. The last proposition includes certain Consequences which require explanation 1. That considering the present Constitution of Europe a Universal Bishop is a kind of a Monster and that it is also of dangerous Consequence that a Bishop an Abbot or other Prelate should have a Jurisdiction over any part of the Clergy belonging to Neighbouring Princes 2. That Oecumenic Councils are no more to be held but by the Consent of all the Christian Princes because those Councils were no more then General Assemblies of the Clergy of the Roman Empire which is now no longer in being 3. Supposing such an unexpected Happiness that all the Princes of Europe or the greatest Part should agree to call a General Council it would not be their business to handle Matters of Government nor of Discipline of which it would be in vain to seek for a Uniformity only to apply themselves to examin the Differences among the Christians about the Points of Doctrine and to regulate if it may be done the Number of the Fundamental Articles to determin what we ought to believe thereupon and so to order it that the Christians notwithstanding some few Controversies of little Consequence among them may always stand their ground look upon each other as Brethren and Communicate with the same willingness upon all Occasions together as they obey the several Magistrates of the several Countries through which they Travel 10. Schism is a separation occasion'd by particular Persons that forsake the Communion of a Church Authoriz'd by the Laws of a Kingdom to set up particular Congregations and that only for some defect which they find in the Discipline of the Church for some Ceremony or for some Point of Doctrine not Fundamental Thus the Labadists and the Anabaptists of Holland who differ from the rest of the Reformed only about the time of the Adminstration of the Sacrament of Baptism are Schismatics The Protestants of France of Poland of Hungary are not so but would be Hereticks if the Doctrine of Rome were true The Catholics of Spain and Italy who accuse the Protestants of England Germany and the Low Countries of Schism are Ridiculous for that the Magistrates of the North have as much right to regulate the Exterior Government of Religion as those of the South 11. Schism is very dangerous they who are the Promoters of it will have much to answer for at the last day and they who Harbour and Entertain it are no less Guilty It is the Original of many Quarrels between private Persons and of Factions in the State Add to this that many times it happens that the Ringleaders of the weaker Party for fear of being forsaken by their Followers they fill their Heads with Opinions which cause them to forsake in good earnest the Communion of the lawful Church We know what has happen'd to one Sect which has made a great noise in the World only because a few Learned Men embrac'd their Party 12. Ceremonies of themselves are indifferent as to Religion Nevertheless it is good to observe 1. That the most Ancient are the best and that they ought to be held in Veneration tho they may be alter'd upon weighty and considerable Reasons 2. That all those which have been reduc'd into the Church since Constantine are extreamly suspected because of the Spirit of Paganism and Tyranny which began then to Reign 3. That the Miseries which the Protestants have suffer'd from the Church of Rome have inspir'd them with an utter Abhorrency of all that
that themselves and their Brethren have suffer'd for this last near half an Age together has been only the Effect of the Intreagues of the Court of France of the two Cardinals and the Jesuits Nor have the Vnited Provinces less Cause to complain Not to mention the unjust Invasion in 1672. for which all the Subtlety of Lewis the Fourteenth's Counsel could never alledge any other well grounded Reason then the favourable Opportunity to Conquer those Rich Provinces through the Cowardise sloath and want of Intelligence in those that manag'd Affairs at that time were there nothing else but the Violences and Cruelties which the French King and his Ministers have Committed within these Nine or Ten Years upon the Subjects of the States General their Ships Embargo'd their Goods Confiscated their Seamen Imprison'd constrain'd to change their Religion to serve against their own Country or to undergo the Punishment of the Gallies the prodigious Number of Merchants Ships which their Privateers have taken their Villages and Towns laid in Ashes and all this in time of Peace and without the least appearance of Justice I dare be bold to say that their High and Mightinesses must have Hearts of Steel to be insensible of these Recent Outrages and that all the Offers and Reparations that France can make are not sufficient to equal them But some will say it is the Interest of the Vnited Provinces to continue in Peace and the States never had a fairer opportunity to obtain from France whatever they shall judge requisite for the security of their Subjects and their Trade I acknowledge it But who shall be Guarantee for the Observation of the Treaty which is to be made with France Certainly neither England nor the Empire Is it prudence to confide in those Persons who have a thousand times deceiv'd us who never keep their word any longer then sincerity agrees with their Ambitious Desires and their Interests who make a sport of their Promises Oaths Contracts and most solemn Edicts who are equally Treacherous to Friends and Enemies Subjects and Allies True it is that Peace is very desireable but not a Peace of six Months or a Year but a firm stable and perpetual Peace or at least such a Peace as shall last as long as we live 'T is also as true that it is the Interest of Common-wealths rather to preserve themselves in the Condition they are in then to make new Conquests But when we have Neighbours Potent Ambitious and such as seek to aggrandize themselves by all manner of means right or wrong they have no other way to secure themselves from their unlookt for Invasions then to take advantage of the first opportunity that presents it self to pull down their Power and to reduce them to such a Condition that they be no longer able to do any more Mischief This Happy Opportunity is now come England and Holland have now William the III. for their Sovereign and Governour The whole Body of Germany moves toward Revenge The French themselves pant after their deliverance the Persecuted Protestants and Jansenists are not the only Male Contents of that Kingdom The Clergy the Nobility and People all Orders of the Kingdom groan under the Tyranny of the Jesuits and only wait for a Chieftain to deliver them from Slavery This is a truth not to be question'd and to convince the Public there needs no more for any Man to do then to cast his Eyes upon the general Causes of the Discontents of the French No Country is more Fruitful no Climate more temperate and serene then theirs no Inhabitants more Civil or more Humane then those of this Kingdom You would say it was a Country made on purpose to be the Habitation of Good and Vertuous People and a Paradise upon Earth But as it is a Country Rich and Fertile and as the People are extreamly humble and submissive they are overwhelm'd with all sorts of exactions insomuch that their Plenty becomes their Misery and their Obedience makes their Oppressions more grievous To reduce a free and Warlike People into so rigorous a Servitude requir'd a long time and a world of Contrivances It was requisite to ravish from the Clergy their Rights to deprive the Nobility of their Priviledges and to invade the Liberties of the People 'T is well known that the Gallicane Church has bred up and foster'd in her Bosom the greatest Luminaries in Europe that she has had in all Ages Holy Bishops who have oppos'd the Usurpations of the Popes who have publicly rebuk'd the Vices of the Grandees and have openly withstood the Tyranny of Princes The Inferior Clergy were solely under the Jurisdiction of their Prelates their provincial and national Synods At this day they are expos'd to the Mercy of the Court and the Fury of the Jesuits not only in civil Causes but also in what concerns their Ecclesiastical Discipline and Religion A world of Formalities a world of Assemblies but no appeal against a Letter under the Privy Signet We also know what has formerly been the Power of the Nobility without their Consent neither Peace could be concluded nor War undertaken nor any Leagues offensive or defensive could be made Offices of public Trust which are now put to Sale the Prey of Usurpers in Confederacy or Hunger-starv'd Commissaries Military Imployments which are bestowed for the most part upon Souldiers of Fortune or the Lacqueys of Favourites Benefices which are now at the absolute disposal of the Kings Confessor the Councel of Conscience or the Jesuits All Pensions all Civil or Ecclesiastical Dignities all considerable Employments were as it were Portions for the Younger Sons of Noble Families and afforded them Means to support the lustre of their House Whereas now we see the Nobility without Estates and ill Educated through Poverty or want of Education stooping to the meanest of Drudgeries Formerly when a Lord was disgusted with the Court he retir'd to his Castle where he liv'd like a petty Soveraign no Man daring to come to trouble his Repose But those happy days are past Now they must eat their Bread in the train of the Favourites make their applications to such as have only their Vices or their Intreagues to favour them and instead of that noble Fireceness so well becoming those whom Birth Knowledge and Vertue have rais'd above the Common Sort they must now put on the Countenances of Slaves and Suppliants upon the approach of a Beggar in Rich Apparel a Commissary of the Treasury or a Jesuit of the Court. As for the People their misery is so great as would require a showr of Bloody Tears to deplore it and a Graving Tool of Iron to describe it so that I have often question'd whether Posterity would give credit to what a thousand Testimonies have both seen and try'd themselves and which they can never express but in a Language far short of the Truth Who would believe that a People Laborious Active Sober Industrious that inhabits a Country Fertil
lessen the Authority of the Church of England 'T is a strange thing that the Roman Catholics who hardly know their own Religion should pretend to teach us ours They have been told a thousand times that the Bishops and Presbyterians of England differ only in so slight Ceremonies which are nothing to the Essential part of Divine Worship and that there is more of Obstinacy and Misunderstanding between them then of real Cause of Dispute We have seen at the Hugue for this ten or twelve Years the Princess of Orange now Queen Mary of England repair indifferently sometimes to the Dutch or French Church and sometimes to her own Chappel The Prince no sooner arriv'd at London but he receiv'd the Communion in an Episcopal Church and gave a favourable Reception to the Presbyterian Ministers who went to Congratulate him We see every day several of the Episcopal Party Communicate with the Reformed on this side the Sea and our French and Holland Protestants joyn themselves with the Church of England Yet maugre all this the Romish Doctors would make us believe we are of two Religions And upon the same score because their Religion properly consists only in exterior Pomp in Images Relics Beds Rosaries Holy-water Monks of several Colours and such like Superstitious Exercises and Institutions and that those other things wherein they differ from the Protestants are only the Inventions of Italian Policy they imagin it to be the same with ours Whence it comes to pass that all the Speculative Opinions of our Divines are by those Gentlemen lookt upon as so many All the Confessions of Faith the Liturgies the Ceremonies in the Administration of the Sacraments the Varieties of Discipline the Orders and Habits of the Preachers if our Adversaries were so to be believ'd among us make so many different Sects For this reason it was that a certain Prelate who believ'd himself to be very witty has made a History of the Variations of our Churches and he had so great a desire to augment the Number that he bethought himself of ascribing to us as many Relics as he found Systems of our Ministers upon the Apocalyps the most obscure Book of all the New Testament Nevertheless we must acknowledge that the Headstrong Obstinacy of some of Ours and the remains of Ignorance and the Spirit of Antichristianism that will not yet out of the Bones of some that Envy our Unity have given occasion to these Calumnies The Western Church has mourn'd for above these ten Centuries under the Darkness and Yoke of Popery During which time there was Opportunity and Advantage enough to deepen the Superstitions and Impressions of Popery under so wicked a Master Add to this that since the Reformation we have not had a Prince whose Knowledg Piety and Puissance have been able to reconcile our Differences The Great Gustavus had conceiv'd such a Design in his Mind but he vanish'd like a flash of Lightning in the midst of his Victories It seems that God has reserv'd this Honour for William the III. and this Happiness till our Time God has sent this Prince into the World in a Country where the Spirit of Toleration has pass'd from the Magistrates to the most Learned Ministers He has call'd him to a Kingdom replenish'd with Learned and Pious Bishops who have for a long time preserv'd their Flocks in Peace by their gentleness and moderation The Prince at hi first Coming to the Government found Factions in the Church as well as in the State He has appeas'd both the one and the other The Persecution of the Reformed in France has open'd the Eyes of all their Brethren and has shew'd them the necessity of guarding themselves from the Fury of the Jesuits All these Conjunctures in my Opinion presage a happy Union of the Protestants As to what is said that the Prince of Orange is more absolute in the Vnited Provinces then any of his Predecessors is an Equivocation For ever since the Establishment of the Commonwealth the Hollanders have always born a very great Affection to the House of Orange but true it is that ever since William the Silent who laid the first Foundations of their Liberty this State never had a Prince whom they lov'd more then William Henry The reason is because he enter'd upon the Government at a time when the Hollanders seem'd to be ruin'd beyond recovery and yet he restor'd them to their former Grandeur However notwithstanding this signal Service done them the dread of War and certain vain Suspitions were the Cause that there was great Opposition made against a Levie of sixteen Thousand Men which the Prince most earnestly press'd for as better understanding the Designs of France then any of the Burgomasters of Amsterdam The Event demonstrated that never was any Opposition made upon such bad Grounds nor more Prejudicial to the State For Lewis the XIV boasted in the Edict which revokes that of Nantes that he had not made the Truce but to Exterminate the Protestants out of his Kingdom James the II. took that time to perplex the Church of England and to invade the Liberties of his People At length France threw off her Mask and broke the Truce as soon as she thought she could do it with Advantage That long Train of Delusions justify'd the Prince's Innocence shew'd that he had no other Aim in all his Designs but the Preservation of Liberty and the Protestant Religion and gain'd him the Hearts of all the Hollanders And I would fain know how long it has been a Crime for a Governour to win the Love of those who are under his Conduct Thus you may see how the first Prince William render'd himself Absolute and how the same Power came to be transferr'd to his Successors not by Usurpation but by preserving the Liberty of the Republic The form of Government is still the same the Elections are made by the usual Suffrages the Resolutions taken for the raising of Money making Peace and War Affairs of Trade Justice and Civil Government are all determin'd in the Assembly of Estates according to the Ancient Customs and we are ready to make it appear that for these fifteen Years last past that William Henry has sate at the Helm he has acted nothing but according to the Laws and by vertue of the power annex'd to his high Authority and Command As to what is reported that the Prince engag'd the States General in his Expedition for England without imparting to them his Design is a Calumny of his Enemies which has no other foundation but the Malice of those who are enrag'd that he did not make a discovery of that Fortunate Enterprize at such a time that they might have had more leisure to prepare to obstruct him And it is an easie thing to convince all Intelligent Persons of the Folly of this Objection Suppose this Revolution had been the Effect of long deliberation it was necessary before all other things 1. To be assur'd of the Inclinations
their Offers They vainly flatter themselves to seduce the Hollanders during the Kings abode in England or to raise Disturbances in England while he remains in Holland 'T is true that feeble Affection which is supported only by Fancy or only grounded upon some Conformity of Temper and Humour is as frail as the Foundation is slight But when Religion Vertue and the public Interest are the Bonds of Union between the Prince and Subjects it is a Link inseparable which the absence of some few Months renders much the stronger Now the Affection which the two Nations bear to his most Serene Majesty William the III. is of the latter sort The English are a Warlike Nation that passionately Loves their Kings especially when their Inclinations are Martial Their Princes have for a long time enjoy'd both Normandy and Guyenne which oblig'd them frequently to cross the Sea but we never read in any History that their Subjects took any Advantage of their absence to rise up in Rebellion The Vnited Provinces ever since their first Confederacy having been almost continually engag'd in Wars are more accustom'd to see their Prince at the Head of their Armies then at leisure at the Hague So that both the one and the other will easily be contented that his Majesty should visit them by turns Besides that the English will have Queen Mary always present in their Capital City whose Piety and Vertue whose great Understanding and Mildness renders her equal to Elizabeth a Person to whom the Hollanders were so devoted that at her departure the chiefest of their wishes were that she might be but as well belov'd at London as she had been at the Hague to which her Royal Highness answer'd that she desir'd no more These are the greatest Difficulties that are propounded and buzz'd abroad by our Male Contents or which I have been able to think of Their weakness appears to me a certain presage of the felicity of the People under the Reign of William the III. and Mary the II. and of that Peace which the Union between England and Holland will restore to Europe The SECOND PART The Happy Consequences of the Union between FRANCE and HOLLAND The Means to preserve it entire AMong the happy Consequences of the Union between the Subjects of their Majesties of Great Britain and of their High and Mightinesses there are some which are particular to each of the two Nations and relate to the form of Government their Laws and Priviledges But it belongs not to a private Person to meddle with those sorts of Matters as being the business of Parliaments and Assemblies of Estates Other Consequences there are more general wherein divers Confederate Princes several Countries all the Protestants and all Europe find themselves interested and upon which we shall make some Reflections I place in the first ranck the bringing down the Power of France not believing that I could begin with a more pleasing Subject Since the Pyrenean Peace that Kingdom has mounted to a Degree of Grandeur and Pride which have render'd France insupportable to all her Neighbours so that it is neither the Wealth nor the Welfare of the French People that are envy'd for Men have more reason to be mov'd with Compassion at the sight of their Miseries 'T is against their blindness that Men exclaim and that indispensable fury that hurries them on to make others as miserable as themselves instead of complying with their good Intentions and permitting the release of those miserable People from the sad Condition wherein they are If France were enrich'd by Trade by Manufacture by a long Peace if it were aggrandiz'd by Marriages and Alliances by the free Concessions of Princes or by the vast Concurrences and Conflux of People to her Territories we should be so far from troubling her repose that we should do our utmost to imitate her Example But it is well known that her Conquests and her Riches are the Effects of Breach of Faith and her unjust Wars of her Vexations and Oppressions and the vast Contributions which she exacts from the People so that the generality of the Subjects are reduc'd by the Court to that Condition as not to be able to subsist but in the midst of the Rage of War by Pillage Robbery and Ransack The bare Duties of Humanity would oblige their Neighbours to redeem them from a Condition so opposite to the public good and the Salvation of their Souls nor is the particular Interest of other People an Obligation less engaging to the same Effect Since that under the pretence of Religion the Dragoons have ruin'd the best Families in the Kingdom wasted their Estates and disabl'd the Proprietors to make the best of their demeans and to continue their Trades since as an Accumulation of their Misfortune the Privateers being become Masters of the Seas Trade has undergon so sensible a decay that ten Years more like the three last will produce a far greater mischief then a general Pestilence for ten Months in regard they would be the ruin of an infinite Number of Families which by means of their Wealth and Industry are at present the support and glory of Europe Considering the present Constitution of our Western Parts the Wines the Strong-waters the Oyl and Salt of France are Merchandizes which Foreigners can hardly live without But the Inhabitants being impoverish'd and not able to burthen themselves with those things which would be given them in exchange they that want their Wares must be oblig'd to carry ready Money and to afford new Matter to feed the Extortions of the Collectors and the Insatiable Avarice of the Chief Ministers Add to this that if the War happen to spin out in length the great Number of Souldiers that must be rais'd throughout the Kingdom will be the cause that the greatest part of the Lands must lye untill'd and that the infinite Wealth accrewing by the profits of the Land would be all lost If it be so then some will say that it is so much the Interest of Foreigners to Labour the preservation of France it behoves them speedily to make a Peace with her 'T is very true that there could be nothing more advantageous then a general Peace but the mischief is that considering the present Condition of Affairs it is neither safe nor possible to conclude a Peace besides that it is also more uncertain and more difficult to be assur'd that it shall be of any long continuance Therefore before we talk of Peace it will be requisite 1. That Lemis the XIV Re-establish the Edict of Nantes and restore the Reformed to the same Condition wherein they were before the Death of Hen. IV. and make restitution of all the Damages which they have sustain'd since the Pyrenaean Peace but more especially since the Truce in the Year 84. It would be an eternal Ignominy to the Protestants to suffer the public Violation of the Treaties concluded with their Brethren without alledging any other reason but only that
French Pensions had corrupted the greatest part of her Counsellors The Protestants had put Havre de Grace into the Hands of the English who neglected to Succour them as they ought to have done So that after the Battle of Dreux the Princes were overjoy'd when propositions of Peace were made them When the Peace was concluded they declar'd War against Q. Elizabeth and Besieg'd Havre de Grace All the French flock'd thither with an ardor more then ordinary and the Hugonots in greater Numbers then the Catholics The Earl of Warwick who Commanded the Place was astonish'd at this suddain Change and endeavour'd to flatter the Reformed with new Hopes to which they answer'd that remiss and faint-hearted Friends were more to be fear'd then reconcil'd Enemies But if the Confederates vigorously press forward the Re-establishment of the Edict of Nantes and will not admit of any Peace but upon that Condition they will gain the Hearts of the Protestants of that Kingdom and may be assur'd of a strong Party that will look with an Evil Eye upon the Invasion of Germany considering it as a forerunner of the downfal of their Religion The Re-establishment of the Exiles will be attended with another Benefit without which the comfort of the rest will be quite lost and Peace will prove a Misfortune I mean the surceasing of the Persecutions I shall not trouble my self to prove that forc'd Conversions are contrary to the Genius of the Gospel and more proper to make Men Hypocrites then Christians 'T is a Subject upon which others have prosperously exercis'd their Pens and which rather belongs to Theology then Policy I shall only observe that Interests of State obliges all the Princes of Europe to force a Cessation of Persecutions 1. Because they deprive them of their best Subjects 2. Because they inspire others with the Spirit of Cruelty and Rebellion 3. Because they shake the very Foundations of Civil Society 4. Because they render the Government Feeble and Odious Most certain it is that Vertuous Persons are the support of a Kingdom and that the Character of an honest Man is to do nothing against his Conscience Let the Conscience be erroneous or not it always guides us to love Truth and Vertue and to sacrifice all things to that which the inward Light of our Understanding represents to us as such So that when any one suffers loss of Goods Exile Imprisonment or Death because he will not conform to a Worship which he believes to be forbidden by God or profess an Opinion which he conceives to be false it cannot be deny'd but that he Acts like an honest Man tho perhaps he may be in the wrong To this it may be objected that if we admit this Rule we ought to let go Robbery Murder Adultery and all other Crimes unpunish'd out of respect to them who believe them to be no Sins To which I answer that there is no Toleration to be granted to those that do not believe in God nor the morality of the Gospel for that the Laws which are the foundation of our Christian Republics are so link't to the Precepts of Christ that they cannot subsist without them Add to this that those Precepts are so clear that they who should deny them would be lookt upon as Prodigies whom we might with good reason believe to be more malitious and wicked then ignorant and that they were fitter to be lockt up for Mad-men or to be punish'd as Disturbers of the public Peace But there is not the same judgment to be made of speculative Opinions which relate to the Ecclesiastical Government or the forms of divine Service the Number of those that differ in those things is almost infinite and the wisest Men many times wander so far from Truth in Reference to these Particulars that they are pitty'd by their Opponents Persecution inspires the Vulgar Sort the Ignorant and Superstitious with Cruelty who are the Spectators and frequently the Instruments of the Mischiefs which they cause others to suffer for the Truth What can a Prince expect from a People accustom'd to Rob and Pillage their Neighbours and to overwhelm them with Injuries because they had rather hear a Sermon then go to Mass Does not this infuse a fear into them least the Monks Priests and Seditious Preachers should turn the Fury of the Rabble upon their Soveraigns The pretended Holy League and the Tragical End of Hen. the III. one would think should cause a trembling in the Joynts of all Persecuting Princes For a Prince to Persecute his Subjects for Religion sake is to ruin Trade For that if the People make a public Profession of it and the Prince on the other side sends his Dragoons to deprive them of their Liberties to sack their Houses waste and confiscate their Estates Imprison or Banish them and their Families In the midst of these Disorders a great Number of Debts remaining unpaid will cause a great number of Bankrupts besides that vast numbers of poor People that were let to Work and got their Livings by those that are Persecuted must be forc'd to starve All these Inconveniences have befallen France as it is well known Nor does the public exercise of the Reformed Religion being forbid make e're a whit the better for those that stay behind for the Old Catholics will never trust the News Ones their Kindred or their Friends of which they see some or other every day making their Escapes nor will Foreigners either Traffic or send their Goods to a Country where there is so little Security Persecution is an unexhaustible source of Knavery as affording Treacherous and Revengeful Persons an easie means to ruin their Adversaries An Attorney or Counsellor that the Cause may go of his Clients side has no more to do but to plead that their Adverse Party is a frequenter of the private Assemblies of the Reformed that he rarely goes to Mass or that he spoke contemptibly of Transubstantiation or some other of the Tenets of the Romish Church There is no need of going into Italy or Spain Portugal or the Indies to find Examples for this France it self will furnish us with a great Number within these few Years and we might produce some more particularly were it not that some Persons are concern'd for whom We have too great kindness After all this there is no wonder that Persecution renders the Government Odious the fatal Consequences of the Inquisition are fresh in memory and the great Opposition which was every where made against the setting of it up It was expell'd out of France and the Low Countries reduc'd almost to nothing in the Venetian Commonwealth and the Romans defac'd and pull'd down the Arms and Statues of Paul IV. out of their hatred to his memory for having impos'd that Yoak upon them Almost all Persecutors have been the Object of the Peoples Hatred and their Ends have been such for the most part as their Cruelties deserv'd The principal Strength of a King consists in